Ben Reese '13 named All-American at Pi Kappa Delta nationals

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Marietta College senior Ben Reese was named to the All-American team at the Pi Kappa Delta nationals.

MARIETTA, OH (03/20/2013)(readMedia)-- Marietta College's Ben Reese '13 (Marietta, Ohio) was named to the eight-person All-American team at the 2013 Pi Kappa Delta Nationals in St. Louis, Mo.

The All-American Award recognizes the top students nationally in the areas of Competition, Service and Community Service, and Marietta was the only program to receive the honor this year. The event was held from March 13-16.

"I am also deeply honored to be recognized as one of PKD's All-Americans for 2013 and proud that, even though our school is one of the smallest in the organization, we were the only chapter to have more than one member selected for this honor," Reese says.

He was joined on the All-American team by friend and classmate Andrew Kasick '13 (Marietta, Ohio).

During the competition, Reese earned a superior rating in impromptu speaking and persuasive speaking, while also earning an excellent rating in student scholarship and open parliamentary debate. Kasick and Reese were both quarterfinalists in open parliamentary debate.

"Traveling to Pi Kappa Delta's National Tournament and Convention for the honorary's 100th anniversary celebration was truly one of the most rewarding experiences that I have had as a student at Marietta College," Reese says. "To see the team accomplish so much and meet so many people with similar interests was an opportunity that, as a senior, I will never have again and would not have traded for anything - even though it did require getting up at 5 a.m. every day and there is no beach in St. Louis."

Reese will compete one more time before his forensics days are done at Marietta. He qualified for the Interstate Oratorical Association Competition that will be held in Shreveport, La., in April.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy begun in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,430 full-time students. The College offers 44 majors and has been listed among Barron's Best Buys in College Education and Peterson's Competitive Colleges, and has been recognized as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com.

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